Web Sitings: Fun, Free Online Computer Games
Looking for skill-builders to recommend for summer? Check out these sites!
Lemonade Larry
http://prongo.com/lemon
The classic summer kid biz takes a high-tech twist at this site! Your budding entrepreneurs are quizzed on basic multiplication facts as they determine what to charge their virtual customers.
Spell 'n' Surf
www.cogcon.com/gamegoo
Surf's up at this fun site, whose online game Fearless Frieda: The Big Kahuna challenges primary kids to spell sight words in order to catch the next big wave. Who knows? Maybe someday you'll have a big kahuna at the National Spelling Bee Finals (June 1-2).
Sun Safety Quiz
www.sunsafetyalliance.org
Kids can get “Sun-Certified” and print out a colorful diploma after completing the online quiz at this site. Have students click on “Kids” to access the quiz, which covers everything from SPF to cloudy days.
Math Baseball
www.funbrain.com/math/index.html
Young stars can go to bat at this simple, multilevel site inspired by our national pastime. Whether your kids are celebrating Little League Baseball Week (June 13-19) or just warming up on math facts, choose between addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, and play ball!
Watermelon Wisdom
www.watermelon.org
Who knew there was so much learning in this red, juicy treat? Carve into a watermelon science quiz or soak in melon math facts before tackling the word puzzle and coloring pages. Don't miss the video showing how the summer snack is delivered to stores.
Sweet Tooth Trivia
www.candyusa.org/classroom/trivia
June is National Candy Month (as good an excuse as any to study the sweet stuff!). Middle- and upper-grade students can learn all about candy's history here.
Seashell Rounding
O, Canada
www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Trains/English
Although you might usually associate our neighbor to the north with winter, Canada Day (July 1) is a great time to learn more about that country's heritage. This site gives gumshoes the chance to solve mysteries while learning about Canada's railroad system.
Monster Beach Party
Patriotic Pair-Up
Fourth-of-July Find
http://wilstar.com/holidays/puzzles/july4puz.htm
Get intermediate students in a patriotic groove with this simple word search. Kids can look for four- syllable, vocab-building superstars such as revolution, independence, and patriotic as a perfect warm-up activity for a language arts lesson.
Potter Play
Liberty!: The American Revolution
www.pbs.org/liberty
PBS's Road to Revolution game asks kids to imagine they are colonists outraged by the Stamp Act and other offenses.
Hannah Trierweiler is the assistant editor of Instructor
. This article was originally published in the May/June 2005 issue.